Mediating mechanisms linking anthropometric, lifestyle and dietary risk factors with cancer risk

The mediating mechanisms linking anthropometric and lifestyle risk factors with cancer development and survival remain unclear. We aim to investigate the potential mediating roles of metabolic factors (including biomarkers and intermediate conditions and diseases) on the association between risk factors (e.g. fat mass, diet, physical activity) and subsequent cancer diagnosis, death and survival by cancer type. The proposed project aims to understand the mechanisms that underpin the association of risk factors with cancer development and progression, which is consistent with UK Biobank’s mission of health-related research that is in the interest of the public good. In the first stage of this project we will run prospective analyses to assess the associations of potential risk factors with risk of, and death from, specific cancers. If there are sufficient cases and available information on tumour characteristics, we will split tumours into subtypes. We will also assess the association between the potential risk factors and each of the possible mediators, as well as the prospective associations between the mediators and cancer risk. Finally, we will estimate the mediation effects of the individual mediators in the associations between risk factors and cancer risk. We intend to include all participants of the UK Biobank cohort.